Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy has record-setting day

PHILADELPHIA — LeSean McCoy scored 20 touchdowns in 2011, more than any Eagle ever, more than Steve Van Buren collected in 1945, when he’d scored 18, the previous franchise record.

So when McCoy Sunday zoomed up on the outside of Van Buren once again, he already understood the meaning, the significance, the legend.

“He is definitely a Hall of Famer and once of the best backs ever to play this game,” McCoy said. “And he played here in Philadelphia. So this means a lot.”

By rushing for 217 yards in a 34-20 victory over the visiting Detroit Lions, McCoy had once again passed the late Van Buren, who set the previous record of 205, set against the Steelers in 1949. And unlike his club record for touchdowns, which was set in a longer season than Van Buren ever played, McCoy’s 60-minute, 217-yard mark was achieved sans asterisk.

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“I think records are made to be broken,” McCoy said. “And it has been standing for so long. He’s the kind of guy that, if you are going to break a record, why not his? He’s a guy that put so much work in. There is the touchdown record. So we have some history together.”

McCoy made his history in an estimated eight inches of snow, benefiting from a pregame decision to try shoes with longer spikes, from a mid-game policy change by Chip Kelly, by the retreating Lions and from his own natural speed that enabled him to break away for touchdown runs of 40 and 57 yards.

After settling for 51 yards on 13 carries in the first half, McCoy went for 166 in the second when Kelly made the football — and the weather — decision to streamline the running attack against the Lions’ wide-nine defense. Instead of encouraging McCoy and the other Eagles’ runners to take the outside route, he ordered a straight-ahead running attack.

To McCoy, that was a treat, not a restriction.

“People don’t really know,” he said. “They see the moves that I make, but I actually like to run between the tackles. It gives me so much leverage in terms of being able to go up the middle. You can see your holes, and today the guys up front gave me so much room to work. Tons of credit goes to those guys.”

Though the snow theoretically compromised the players’ footing, it may have contributed to McCoy’s success. With visibility low, quarterbacks were less inclined to pass, with Nick Foles producing just 11 completions. Thus, the run was the sturdier play.

In a snow storm in the 1948 NFL championship game, Van Buren rushed for 98 yards. A year later, also in the NFL championship game, Van Buren rushed for 196 yards on 31 carries in a driving rain in Los Angeles.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” McCoy said. “I actually watched some tape of him. He was pretty good and very dominant.”

McCoy was dominant Sunday ... not that many of his teammates were surprised.

“He’s a tremendous player and a tremendous teammate,” Nick Foles said. “And he made some huge plays tonight that really did give us an opportunity to win the game. I am really proud of how he is taking all of this and handling himself. The moves he made tonight don’t surprise me because I have played with him long enough to know that he is capable of doing this and he is hungry for more. And I know he is going to continue to work to get better.”